Which would you buy? Apple or Dell? Dodge or Ford? John Deere or Case New Holland? The North Face or Columbia? Nowadays, customers don’t purchase products, instead they purchase a part of a brand. To begin, let’s define branding is. The term branding is often confused with design (or advertising) elements such as a logo, slogan or print collateral. While these are all integral parts of the process, branding is more than that… Branding is the personality of a company or the image a customer gets in their mind when they think about a company.
Developing a brand is a two-step process.
1. First develop the brand.
Branding happens before any design work is completed, and should take place before anything is spent on advertising. Ask yourself, why does your company do what it does? This is one of the most important things to figure out right away and be transparent about it with your targeted market. What does your company stand for? Does your company only use eco-friendly fibers in your clothing to promote sustainability? These are just a few important pillars among others that should be considered to be further developed. Other pillars include: credibility, differentiation, knowledge, and vision. When defining your brand, choosing a few of these key items to build your brand on is important because if you can’t define your brand, neither will your customers.
When thinking on a bigger scale, branding also shares your company’s mission, lifestyle, culture, and direction. What is the story that your brand communicates about your company? Does it promote a healthy and active lifestyle?
Customers will identify with a brand that shares in their goals and beliefs, which allows them to feel like they are a part of a bigger picture or story.
2. Raise Awareness.
Now that a few branding pillars have been further developed, the focus shifts towards getting customers to believe you are the only solution to their problem. This is done through a plan that may included advertising, marketing and possibly even PR. When this second stage is taking place, it’s important that the pillars that were developed stay consistent across all mediums.
One of the easiest ways to raise brand awareness is through the use of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. When reaching out, it’s best to find where your target market is and most likely… they are online. Furthermore, the information posted on social media outlets needs to be relevant to your company and information that your customers would be searching for.
Another advertising possibility might include utilizing Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), which allows a large number of recipients to be reached through the use of postcard for a fraction of the price. With EDDM the targeted market can be reached by organizing the list by zip code, income level and more!
Would your company benefit from going viral online? We’ve all seen the flash mob videos or the crazy video that received billions of views on YouTube. So how do you deliver a message in less then a minute, gain attention, and create a buzz? First off, the video must entertain. This is easily done by selecting a popular topic and putting a unique twist on it. After the subject is selected, a strategy must be put in place along with planning strong launch. Using these four points: entertain+unique topic+ strategic planning+launch can help take your company viral as another advertising option.
In conclusion, before any efforts are made to connect with new customers, a strong branding plan must be developed to ensure success.
R2F Creative LLC provides graphic design + branding and web design solutions for clients nationwide and locally in Ankeny and Des Moines, Iowa.